Pride: A Rise to Power
by VietnamWarlord
Summary: When conflict arises between the Leon family and the Gambino family over a whisky deal, friendships are tested, alliances broken, and empires forged.


" I won't tell you shit!" Yelled Marco. The interrogator swung again and delivered yet another jaw-shattering blow. "Tell me who's da rat, or I'll beat the shit out of you until you've got your fill." Another punch landed on Marco's face, this time a balancing blow to his temple. " Tell me!"

"I'll never!" Cried Marco, all the resolve departed from his think Sicilian accent. This time the interrogator brought a baseball bat down onto his right kneecap, the sound of breaking bone echoing off the cramped basement's cinder block walls. All Macro could do was scream before the next blow followed, breaking his other knee and exposing his fractured femur. "I said I would break you. Now tell me who squealed to the Gambinos about the deal!" When he heard silence, he began to take another swing, but as he brought the bat back he saw that Marco had gone unconscious with pain. " Well, I didn't think you knew jack shit anyway," said the interrogator, and with that he raised a revolver to the victims unconscious head and pulled the trigger, turning the small hanging lightbulb off as he left the room.

"You stupid mother fucker, why the fuck did you kill Marco, he might of known something! Now all we have to go on is a half recorded phone call and a half pot of shitty decaf."

" I'm sorry Don, but the bastard didn't know shit about the info leak," replied Lorenzo. " I tried to get it something out of him, but he only whined like a bitch, and I know how to interrogate."

" Ok, fine," said Salvator Leon, his angry slowly subsiding. " We'll get the sonofabitch who told the Gambinos about the Martelli whiskey deal."

"I hope so," said Martino who had just entered the room. A muscular man of 31, Martino is the eldest of the Leon children, and is being groomed to become the next Don of the familia.

" My boy!" Said the Don, " You have arrived at just the right time. Our loyal consigliere Samuel here was just informing me about the recent update in the Gambino incident."

" Hello Marti," said Lorenzo, " I was just saying that our most recent suspect has been properly interrogated and removed from the picture. I suspect that the police won't be finding his body for a very long time."

Martino nodded and sat down on the leather couch dominating the floor inside his fathers windowed study. Lorenzo respectfully preceded to sit down on a coffee table and awaited the Don's decision.

" Let me get this straight," said the Don, pacing behind his massive mahogany desk. " We have investigated all of the obvious suspects and we still don't know who told Luigi Gambino about our deal with that damn Arminian whisky dealer Joe Kardashian."

" I still think it was an inside job," said Martino, carefully choosing each word and sentence. "We know that the Gambinos are not powerful enough to try and attack our entire syndicate without the backing of another of the five families, but they still have enough influence in the liquor market to keep running their empire. That's why I think that they felt so compelled to stick their dirty noses in our fucking business. They know that if we get this whisky deal with Joe we'll be able to steal the main load of their business."

The Don slowly sat back down in his chair, clasping his powerful hands I front of him, signaling to the Consigliere that he was ready for a differing opinion. The Don always heard all opinions and sides before making a final decision, one of the many traits that Martino and the Don's other sons tried to emulate.

" I agree with Martino," replied Lorenzo," But I think we shouldn't worry so much about who told the Gambinos, and more about what they told the Gambinos. We've still got the meeting with Kardashian to make a final deal, but I have a hunch that our position may be compromised if the Gambinos know when or where the meeting will be taking place. We could cancel the meeting, but I think we need to snatch up this offer before it disappears. The Family controls all gambling in the Broncs, Harlem, and Manhattan, and that's where the majority of our power comes from, but with the recent crackdown ps by the cops, I think that we should branch out into other lucrative businesses, and whisky is the new best thing. We need to get a piece of it before the Gambinos create a monopoly in the business and try to take us down. That's my opinion."

The Don's stood up and the room fell silent. With one graceful movement, Don Leon swept aside his high backed chair and carefully crossed the room to the brandy bottle perched on a table. " I have made my final decision. I recognize the need of the familia to enter and get a good foothold in the liquor business, and this may be our only chance, so we will proceed as planned with the Kardashian meeting, but at a different time and place. We will plan the entire meeting on the morrow. Now, tell Fredrico to come and talk to me."

" Freddie isn't here, Pop. He's down in the city with his new girlfriend. He won't be back until tomorrow."

" Freddie, don't leave now, not when we were just starting to have fun!" Light streamed into the musty hotel room through opened blinds. Fredrico Leon stared out of the large glass window and looked down below at the bustling city below. " I have to go, Jule, I've got a meeting with my father in one hour, and I need to beat the traffic."

" What does your father do again?" She asked. " He runs a very large and powerful business that caters to many different services. I'm sorry, but I really must get going."

"Just one more time!" Cried Juliana playfully. Nothing can be so important that your need to go now."

" I'll see you tomorrow, Jule," And with that, Freddie departed from the bedroom, dropping a few hundreds on the mantel for the tip.

From the second Freddie walked down the hallway, he sensed something was amiss. Was it his hitched sense of danger from the war or the mere luck of a young man, he wasn't sure, but for the rest of the trip to the lobby he felt strange. That may be why he was the first to react when a man in a long black coat pulled a gun out as the elevator doors opened. Instantly Freddie turned and ran. Dodging past bell boys, wealth patrons of the hotel, and a pack of school children, he finally reached the front door, only to be greeted by two ice cold bullets in the back. Freddie Leon fell forward into the street, and the street ran red.

" Those cocksucking bastards." Yelled an enraged Martino Leon. "I'm going to make those fucking Destifanos pay for what they did to him." He paced back and forth, up and down the hospital hallway. "The mere thought that they would dare to attack with a Leon shows how stupid those fuckers are. Well, if you fuck with a lion, you have to deal with the pride. "

" Take a seat, Martino," said Lorenzo," Right now we have to think about protecting your brother, not about getting revenge on the Destifanos. Now that we know that the Destifanos are backing the Gambinos, we can start to plan our attack."

" You can't be serious!" Shouted an enraged Martino," We can't just sit on our asses while the Destifanos sit around laughing at us. We've got to take action! Teach them a lesson."

" Sit down, boy," said the Don," We're not going to do anything until your brother is safe. Until then, take a seat, and we'll plan our next step."

"Pop, you're the one who once told me that a true man stands up for his family, and yet here you are acting like you're planning a wedding. This is Freddie we're talking about!"

" I suggest you do as your father says and take a seat," said Lorenzo sternly.

" You know what?" Said Martino, " Why don't you just fuck off. This is a fucking family matter!"

"Oh, is it?" Yelled Lorenzo, louder than before." Because last time I checked, I was a member of the fucking pride, and I care just as much for Freddie than you or anybody else in the entire world, so I think I'll stay right where I am."

" Fine!" And with that, Martino stormed off.

"Send a security detail after him." Said the Don. " I don't want him doing something stupid. Now," The Don stood up. "I think I wound like to see my son."


End file.
